Okay, look, we’ve known each other for, what, almost four years now, right? And in that time I hope that Handan and I have come across as trustworthy folks that have your best interests in mind. We don’t do too many sponsored posts (and only with brands we actually use and love), and we try not to be heavy-handed when it comes to selling.

With that preamble in mind, this post is all about Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day (July 15-16), so I’m going to put on my salesman’s hat and do my level best to sell to you in an honest way.

Handan and I are really excited about Prime Day this year (because it’s now two days instead of one), and we thought it would be a great idea to circle up and share our excitement with you, since many of you may not be aware of the benefits of Prime membership and the deals you can find! To do this, I’ll walk you through “A day in the life,” so you can see some of the most beloved products we use in a typical day.

Don’t know what Prime Day is? Don’t worry! I’m going to explain all about it, but first, let’s talk about Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime is a yearly membership that gives you benefits on shipping, streaming and shopping. Let’s take a look at each one.

Shipping benefits

When we signed up for Prime in 2013, we did it for the free two-day shipping. It was years before we started taking advantage of all the other benefits! In addition to two-day shipping, some zip codes are eligible for same-day shipping, and some are even eligible for two-hour shipping! Wow, that must be nice! (No, we’re not in one of those zip codes!)

Streaming benefits

Your Prime membership comes with unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes. Additionally, you can subscribe to HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ and more – no cable required, and you can cancel any time.

You also get access to over 2 million songs and hundreds of Prime Playlists!

Shopping benefits

There’s a whole slew of shopping benefits for Prime members, but the two we love most are:

The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. Eligible Prime members earn 5% back every day on all Amazon.com purchases, in addition to rewards everywhere else you shop. You need this card! We’ve had it for the past few years, and the benefits are incredible! For more information go to Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.

Whole Foods Market. Exclusive savings for Prime members, 5% back for eligible Prime members with the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card, and 2-hour Delivery via Prime Now in select cities (with more to come). Now that Amazon has bought Whole Foods, it has become much more affordable, and with the Prime member deals, it’s now back on my grocery route.

All this comes with a yearly price tag of $119 (or $12.99/month if you prefer to pay monthly).

It’s a great deal, but if you’re on the fence, why not try it for free for 30 days? Just click the banner below to start enjoying all the Prime benefits free for a month!

Maybe you already have Prime (and you love it!) – wouldn’t it be nice to give it to someone in your life who might appreciate it? Click below to Give the Gift of Prime!

Though $119 per year is a great deal, for a student it’s still pretty pricey. Don’t worry, Amazon has a great deal for students! Prime Student is only $59 per year (or $6.49 billed monthly)! It also comes with additional perks geared for students. Best part? It’s a 6-month free trial, so you (or the student in your life, hint hint) has nothing to lose! Click below to get started with 6 free months!

And Handan and I are not blind to the fact that students aren’t the only ones who struggle with money. Fortunately, neither is Amazon. A company this size takes a lot of heat for being successful, but I see them doing a lot of things right. For those who may not be able to swing $119 per year, they offer a membership for EBT and Medicaid cardholders. Same great benefits but with a more reasonable fee of $5.99/month. Click the banner below to see if you qualify.

Okay, we’re now all well-versed in Amazon Prime and all the benefits that come with it, but what about Prime Day?

Simply put, Amazon Prime Day (now Prime Days) is a two-day sale event exclusively for Prime members. It started 5 years ago as a one-day super-sale to commemorate Amazon’s 20th anniversary, and it has grown into one of the biggest shopping events on the planet. Sure there are the usual insane deals on millions of products, but it has grown to include live-streaming concerts and celebrities competing in live video game tournaments.

Prime Day Deals and Other Products We Love

Okay, I think we’ve covered everything about Amazon Prime and Prime Day, and I hope I’ve convinced some of you what an incredible deal it is. Now let’s look at some of the things Handan and I use in our everyday lives. These are the products we use behind the scenes when we’re just Handan and Greg – the boring old married couple – and not Handan and Greg – the superhuman DIYers and bloggers!

(Pfffft!)

A Typical Summer Saturday in the Life of Handan and Greg

I crack open my eyes not long after dawn’s first glow finds its way through the small spaces between the blinds.

The clock reads 5:45.

Absurd.

It would be madness to wake on a Saturday earlier than I do on a weekday. I close my eyes again and bounce between consciousness and sleep until the first strong rays of the rising sun ignite the room.

Oooof. Too bright. Time to get up.

The clock reads 6:45.

Not as late as I’d hoped to sleep, but things start to hurt when I lay too long. It’s the great irony of getting old – your body feels tired, but it rebels against laying in a bed for too long. Meanwhile the young, infused with boundless energy, spend half their lives asleep!

My pillows before were either too bulky or too thin, always too hot, and they never held their shape. This pillow keeps my head level, it stays cool, and it has allowed me to have something I haven’t had in decades: a restful sleep without waking up 10 times a night.

After conjuring myself out of bed, I stumble around until I get my bearings, do the Bathroom Shuffle and then emerge fully dressed but only half awake.

There’s only one thing on my cob-webbed mind: coffee.

But first I need to run the dog gauntlet.

Once they’ve been fed and let outside, my half-lidded eye turns to The Machine.

I turn it on, grind some beans and watch as it pumps out the glorious go-juice that’ll keep Handan andme buzzing like bumble bees for all our weekend work.

The best part (should you decide it would make a great addition to your family) – it’s $150 less than what we paid for it! Go, You!

The smell of coffee has woken Handan, and she comes stumbling out to greet the day.

“Good Morning, my babes!” I say. I’ve already had a few sips, and they’ve gone straight to my head.

“Gmrngnmbbs.” Comes the mumbled reply.

“Coffee?” I say.

A nod.

I hand her a cup, and the day officially begins.

This day, we’re working on a furniture project in the basement. More to the point, I’m building the furniture while Handan snaps photos on my phone and butts in.

“Wait. Does that go there?”

“Yes, my babes.”

“Wait. Is that right?”

“Yes, my babes!”

“Wait. What about that piece?”

I drop what I’m doing and thrust a finger at the camera. “More snappin’, less yappin’, woman!” I say.

(And then when she’s not looking, I quickly double-check the thing she was yapping about. Damn! She was right!)

“Time for a break!” I announce and drop my tools. Enough of this nonsense! We should be up enjoying some time on our deck, not toiling away in my dungeon! “Would you like some tea, my babes?”

Handan’s head bobs up and down with enthusiasm.

Turks love their tea!

We head upstairs for a tea break.

I fill our electric tea kettle with water and press a few buttons setting the temperature for black tea.

Making good tea is so easy with this thing. Depending on what type of tea Handan wants, I’ll set the water to a different temperature (yep, I’m a nerd like that). It even has an infusion basket to make steeping her favorite leaf a breeze!

When it’s ready, I pour her tea into a Turkish tea glass (the only acceptable way to drink Turkish tea), and I give her two lumps of sugar.

We jumped at the chance to own Alexa the moment she came on the market a few years back. She came with a pretty big price tag back then, too.

These days, our Alexa is a dinosaur. The new generation is called Echo, and she is a smaller, sleeker and more powerful version of our Alexa.

We use her for so many things in our daily lives. In the morning, she tells us the weather. We ask her to tell us jokes, she makes a great hands-free timer, she helps control the thermostat and even our oven! She also plays all our favorite music from Amazon Prime Music and Pandora. Need a quick fact check? Yep, she’s good for that, too!

Amazon always discounts the Alexa universe of products on Prime Day, so if you haven’t experienced a smart speaker yet, now is the perfect time to try! And if good sound isn’t a priority (meaning you don’t need her for music), you can buy the Echo Dot for even less! Dot has all the functionality of Echo – she doesn’t have the fancy speakers.

Our lazy Saturday is a hot one, so we skip the yard work and go for a swim. I don’t know what it is about swimming, but it always makes me hungry. Mind you, when I say “swimming,” what I mean is that I float around the pool like a turd in a toilet bowl.

How this mindless and motionless activity can work up an appetite in me, I have no idea, but when I get out of the pool, my thoughts turn to steak.

Alongside every good steak is an equally good salad. I’ve been serious about cooking for a couple of decades now, and the knives that have served me well for so long are starting to get worn down from years of sharpening. I’m hoping the Birthday Fairy will also be getting me a new chef’s knife. Oh, I don’t know, like maybe this one? (hint hint, Handan)

To keep my knives sharp, I’ve been using this very sharpener for years, and it’s never let me down. Handan won’t go near my knives – they’re too sharp for her!

It’s Saturday night, and that means movies! But first, I prepare some Turkish coffee as an after-dinner pick-me-up. I used to do it the old-fashioned way, with the copper pots – and I still enjoy that process on occasion – but more often I’ll use our electric Turkish coffee maker. It’s fast and easy, and it makes amazing Turkish coffee!

Like Turkish tea, Turkish coffee must be served in proper Turkish coffee cups. They come in many styles, but I love the ones we have. We bought them years ago in Northern Cyprus, but Amazon carries many similar styles.

And if you’re going to make Turkish coffee, you must – and I mean must– use proper Turkish coffee grounds. American grinders can’t grind nearly fine enough. Turks have special grinders that grind the coffee so fine, it’s almost like talcum power. One of the biggest brands, and probably the best you’ll find here in The States, is Mehmet Efendi – we keep a constant supply on hand, and we get it all from Amazon.

The first time I went to Turkey and met my in-laws, I was so excited to make Turkish coffee for Handan and her mother.

The remote has a little built-in microphone, so searching for movies and shows is a breeze. Of all the gadgets we have, this one may be the very best. Last year on Prime Day, it was the number one seller worldwide. All those millions of people can’t be wrong! The Fire Stick is a marvel, and the price is incredible!

Well that just about sums it up! This day I just described wasn’t just a fantasy – it was today (well, yesterday for you, if you’re reading this on Sunday)! Instead of the normal yard work (it was too hot), we worked inside for a bit, went for a swim, grilled, I wrote this post, and then we watched a movie.

Before I let you go, I want to show you a few more things. I mentioned that the Fire Stick was the number on seller in the world on Prime Day 2018. But what about in America? That honor goes to another product that I own – the Instant Pot! I don’t use it as much in the summer as I do in the winter, but it’s one of those kitchen tools that everyone who cooks should own. From slow cooking to pressure cooking to yogurt making, this little wonder does it all. And for Prime Day this year, Amazon will be selling it at a ridiculously low price! I paid $135 for one 4 years ago. Can you guess what they’re selling it for now? It’s low enough that I’m kicking myself. Click the picture below to find out just how low, and get one for yourself while you’re at it! You won’t be disappointed! Oh, and the price you see there (assuming you’re reading this post before Prime Day)? Expect that to drop even further on Prime Day. There’s a ton of competition among big retailers to sell this product because it is so popular. Competition among retails means lower prices for shoppers!

Though no one knows for sure what the best deals will be before Prime Day, there are some tuned-in people out there who are pretty good at making predictions.

If you’re in the market for a new TV, sign up for Prime and wait for Monday, because you will find some insane deals! The one potential big deal everyone is watching is on the Toshiba 55-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV HDR – Fire TV Edition. This is an incredible high definition TV with Fire TV built in that is already a steal at $450, but expect it to be even cheaper come Monday!

There’s also a big buzz about the Ring Video Doorbell. You may have noticed a lot of bloggers shilling for Ring this past year – Amazon is making a big push to get this device on as many doors as possible. Theft and break-ins are on the rise, and Ring can help keep you, your family and your assets safe. This is one deal we know about already. Ring normally sells for $249, but Prime members can get their hands on it for $169, and Amazon is throwing in a free Echo Dot. Daaaaang! Time to upgrade the front door!

Do you like books? Have you tried any of the Kindle readers? Well, you can expect deep discounts on the Kindle Paperwhite reader on Monday. The latest model has twice the storage than the previous, and it’s now waterproof. You no longer have to fear reading poolside!

Obviously Handan and I use more than what I’ve shared with you today. If you’d like to take a look at our Amazon Store, you’ll see many more of the products we love. Just click the picture below to browse our shops.

I hope those of you who aren’t Amazon Prime members will consider joining. I’m always straight with you guys, and I wouldn’t ever try to push something on you that Handan and I don’t already love. Even my parents are on board – they’ve been Prime members for a few years now, and besides the free two-day shipping, they’re hooked on Prime Streaming Video!

Oh, and that reminds me of one last thing I want to share with you. About 2 years ago (or more?), we officially “cut the cable,” meaning we ditched cable TV. It has been one of the best decisions we’ve made.

Network TV is filled with commercials and opinions and generally a lot of garbage that Handan and I have no interest in. By ditching cable TV, our sole source of video entertainment now streams through our Fire TV Stick.

Some may cringe at the idea of being cut off like that, but we have thousands of free movies and shows to choose from on Prime Video, plus all that Netflix and HBO have to offer (they are an additional monthly charge). Many network shows make their way to one of the streaming services after a time, and if they don’t, you can always download your favorite network’s app and continue to watch.

We like to watch TV on our terms, not an advertiser-funded network’s, and Prime Video lets us do just that!

Hi Susan, We won’t know all the deals until Prime Day drops, but Amazon has released some early deals (see the last link in the post). Here’s a link to camera gear that’s on sale now or starting soon: https://amzn.to/30zRgnM

She already has a snarky sense of humor. I don’t need to encourage her. She loves to say yogurt for some reason so I have visions of her ordering cases of Yoplait if we had an Alexa. And she would probably amuse herself by telling it to turn the lights on and off. This is a bird who asked us “what’s a casino?” when she overheard us talking about Foxwoods. She can be downright freaky with her language comprehension and use.

Handan & Greg

OUR FAVORITES ON AMAZON

WANT OUR FREE PRINTABLES?

Thank you! You're now a VIP member of The Navage Patch! Soon you'll receive our Welcome Email where you'll find the password for The VIP Patch.

WANT OUR FREE PRINTABLES?

Subscribe to our free newsletter and gain access to hundreds of freebies in The VIP Patch!

CATEGORIES

CATEGORIES

Disclosure

Our posts may contain affiliate links, and if you purchase a product through those links, you don’t pay a cent more, but we may receive a small commission for referring. In our posts, all opinions are our own and we only recommend products or services we use personally. Click here to read our full disclosure.

COPYRIGHT: We love it when you share! Please keep in mind that all images and text on this site are the property of The Navage Patch and they are protected by copyright laws. Feel free to use only ONE photo with full and intact watermark and a link back to our original post. DO NOT copy or distribute content, printables, complete tutorials or supplies lists, recipes or multiple photos. All free printables offered on The Navage Patch are for personal use only. Pinning is always welcome and appreciated! Thank you!